1. Field Of The Invention
The invention relates to video cassette display cases and, more particularly, to display cases for video cassettes in libraries or rental stores that enable information presented on the cassette advertising wrap or jacket to be viewed by the customer while maintaining the advertising wrap or jacket in substantially original condition, and allowing the slidable removal of the video cassette while preventing the customer from removing the advertising wrap or jacket from the protective display case.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
Video rental stores often experience problems with the theft of cassettes and the packaging therefor, including the advertising wrap or jacket for the cassette (hereinafter the cassette "jacket"). Not only a cassette, but also its jacket is a valuable item because the resale value of a cassette is substantially greater when it is sold in its original jacket. The proprietor of a rental store who wants to sell cassettes after their profitable rental life has expired desires to protect the cassette jackets against damage and theft in order to maximize the resale value of the cassettes. For this reason, some retailers and distributors in the video rental business prefer not to display and/or rent the video cassette in its original packaging, and instead place the cassette in some other form of generic wrapping.
However, cassette jackets are designed and intended to sell and promote the cassette, and contain printed information to entice the customer into choosing a cassette for sale or rental. Recognizing that the cassette jackets substantially enhance the marketing tone in the store, the retailer or distributor often places the original jackets in a part of the store which is accessible to the public, so that prospective customers can casually look through them and make their selections. The jacket is therefore constantly being handled and manipulated. Over a period of time, the jacket inevitably will become soiled and damaged. Moreover, the unprotected jacket, subjected to the public's inspection and handling in the store, experiences significant wear and tear.
It is a fairly common practice to display cassette display cases which contain the cassette jacket and which do not contain the cassette; instead, the cassette is provided to the customer at the time of purchase or rental. The separate display and inventory of the jackets and cassettes, respectively, is inconvenient, inefficient and uneconomical because it wastes valuable space in the facility.
Furthermore, when cassettes in their original jackets are stored in the public section of a store, both the jacket and the cassette are accessible to and may be concealed readily by thieves. At the present time, cassette storage boxes do not enable a retailer or distributor to retain and display the jacket in substantially unaltered form within the storage box in a way which also discourages the theft and damage of the cassette jacket. For example, in Sykes U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,264 the printed advertising wrap or jacket is merely inserted in the sleeve between the inner wall of the storage box and an outer flexible transparent sheet bonded to the edge of the storage box. See FIG. 6 of the Sykes patent. Moreover, the jacket must be substantially altered by cutting the jacket so that it will lie flat in order to fit the sleeve of the Sykes storage box; thus, the resale value of the jacket is substantially diminished.
It is desirable therefore to provide a display case for video cassettes that enables cassettes to be displayed and transported in their original, uncut jackets and that also enables users or renters to benefit from the eye-catching promotional and informational material available on the jackets, without encouraging theft of the jacket, and while simultaneously protecting the jacket against soiling or damage. It also is desirable that a cassette can be readily removed from its display case by a customer without the jacket being manipulated, soiled or damaged.